Chapter 115: They Got Married
So she liked daughters, too?
The question caught Vivian Lowell off guard, and a faint blush crept across her cheeks. She could read a different meaning in the teasing smile on Julian Faulkner’s face.
’What is he implying?’
Vivian’s heart beat a little faster. She decided to mimic Julian’s usual deadpan expression and said seriously, "Yes, of course I like daughters."
"They’re sweet, soft, and smell nice—like little sweethearts. Not like stinky little boys."
?
Julian Faulkner glanced at Vivian Lowell.
’Stinky little boys?’
’What is she insinuating?’
Julian was a little confused but didn’t press the issue. He glanced at the cages behind them, which were almost packed up, and said, "It’s getting late. Let’s head back."
"Didn’t you say you still have work to do at the office?"
"Mhm." Vivian nodded and followed Julian back to the Faulkner Group headquarters.
The two parted ways at the elevators.
As soon as Vivian returned to her office, Leo came in to report on his work.
"After we handed things over to the client, they were quite satisfied with our designs. There are just a few minor revisions they’d like."
Leo handed Vivian a stack of documents. "You know how clients are. They always ask for things they want but are difficult to execute. I can handle these."
"But... Vivian, there’s something else. I just saw the Lowell family post two news items online. I think they’re both about you."
"Neither of them has started to gain traction yet. Do you want to contact your media connections to handle it first?"
?
Vivian was confused.
’The Lowell family... What are Robert Lowell and Sharon Galahad up to now?’
"Leo, I understand. I’ll go online and check it out first."
As she spoke, Vivian set the documents aside and said to Leo, "Try to keep the Lowell family’s drama from affecting our company."
"You’ve been working hard lately. Make sure to get some rest."
"No problem."
Leo smiled and agreed, then turned and closed the door for Vivian on his way out.
Vivian opened her laptop and started browsing the web.
Sure enough.
She found that the first piece of news released by the Lowell family was about the "Swan" series design drafts. The designer who didn’t get along with Vivian had completed the remaining drawings.
It seemed the client had also approved these designs, but out of professional pride, Vivian felt the last two drawings were inferior to her own.
Not only that.
She also discovered...
They had actually taken the bait. Thrown off by her interference, the designer had created two drawings that shared some striking similarities with one of Vivian’s previous works.
’Heh.’
The similarities weren’t immediately obvious. Without a professional appraisal, they might not be easily discovered.
’This is perfect.’
’So the designs the Lowell Group submitted to a top international luxury brand were plagiarized?’
If Vivian could provide definitive proof, the already-struggling Lowell family would face an even more difficult future.
With that in mind, Vivian logged into her "Nox" account, found the relevant design drawings she had previously posted on Instagram, compiled them, and sent them to Vance Wyatt.
"Vance, I have a friend... Mmm, she wants to sue the Lowell family. The reason is that the Lowell Group’s recent design drawings plagiarized her previous work."
"Here are the original drawings, followed by the images the Lowell Group recently released. Remember to get them professionally appraised first, then take them to court. Have the court summons delivered directly to the Lowell Group."
"Then, expose the whole thing online!"
Vance Wyatt replied quickly.
"OK, you can count on me, ma’am."
Vivian let out a sigh of relief as she looked at the chat window. She felt at ease; she had always known Vance was reliable.
Next, Vivian continued browsing the web and found the second piece of news from the Lowell family that Leo had mentioned.
When Vivian first saw it, the story was near the bottom of X’s trending list, but now it had already climbed to the number five spot!
Clicking on it revealed all sorts of clickbait accounts driving the narrative.
"SHOCKING! Former Lowell Group heiress Vivian Lowell rumored to be a gold digger latched onto Faulkner Group’s President Julian Faulkner!"
"Vivian Lowell betrays the Lowell family! She poached a team of designers from the Lowell Group, leaving their design department crippled!"
"EXPOSED! In a parking garage, Vivian Lowell tried to run over her own adoptive father! She ignored her adoptive mother’s desperate pleas!"
There were many related trending topics, as well as videos.
The video...
It was from the previous night when Vivian and Julian were leaving the movie theater and ran into Robert Lowell and Sharon Galahad.
The video had clearly been maliciously edited.
The media was condemning Vivian’s actions, claiming she was utterly heartless.
Even if the Lowell family had wronged her, she had still been raised by them for over twenty years. How could Vivian be so cruel?
The Lowell family was already in such a state, yet she was still kicking them while they were down! It was just too vicious!
In the comments below, a mix of clueless netizens and trolls hired by the Lowell family chimed in.
"When it came out that Vivian Lowell had started her own company, I was impressed by how fast she moved! But maybe she had it all planned from the start? She’s so scheming!"
"Exactly! And look, there’s a man in the video. Isn’t that the president of the Faulkner Group? No wonder Vivian Lowell has the guts to go against the Lowell family. She has a powerful backer!"
"AHHHH, my idol, how could you fall for a scheming bitch like her!"
"FIGHT!! Vivian Lowell is so vicious she’d abandon the family that raised her! President Faulkner, you can’t be blind enough to fall for a woman like that!"
There were many posts like this.
Vivian read for a while, her expression calm.
Sigh.
After a long moment, she finally let out a sigh.
’Robert Lowell, Sharon Galahad... Was this really necessary?’
’If they hadn’t provoked me, I might have taken my time burying them.’
’But now they’re pulling all these stunts just to disgust me. Aren’t they just forcing me to hasten their demise?’
Vivian found it hard to understand people who were so eager to court death.
’I have to clarify things first.’
’The staff from the Lowell Group... I didn’t actually poach them. To be precise, Leo and the others resigned first, and only then did I extend them an offer.’
’Their reason for leaving was simple: the Lowell Group had its own internal problems.’
’The boss’s wife was embezzling company funds and evading taxes. Who would dare to stay at a company like that?’
’Any day now, the company could go bankrupt, and they wouldn’t even get their salaries. These netizens really have it easy, talking big from the sidelines!’
’Keyboard warriors!’
Vivian scoffed inwardly.
Just as she was pondering how to resolve the situation, she suddenly noticed someone had tagged her on her X account.
In an instant, her DMs exploded because of that one tag.
Hm?
Vivian found it a bit strange.
She clicked on it to see.
And discovered...
The person who had tagged her was Julian Faulkner.
The post contained an image and a single sentence.
"To a lifetime together."
The image was of Vivian and Julian’s marriage certificate.